The emergence of Donald Trump and his rescission of The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) spurred the undocumented community to push back against divisive measures within their college campus. Hector Sanchez-Perez is a first-year Sociomedical Sciences Master’s of Public Health student at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. As a “Mailman Dreamer” he epitomizes the resiliency and determination procured to transcend anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) order expedited by the Obama Administration protects nearly 800,000 undocumented students, or Dreamers, from the threat of deportation while being permitted to work, apply for credit, and apply for a driver’s license. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced that individuals who arrived in the United States as children and met certain criteria could apply for deferred action for two-year periods, subject to renewal.

The border of immigration status often prohibits undocumented students form achieving the American dream of social mobility. Throughout their entire educational careers, undocumented students have accrued the navigational and cultural capital to sustain their resiliency in higher education. Although the fate of DACA rests on impending litigation, it is imperative that universities adhere to the humanist side of the debate, highlighting the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In a politically charged and divisive campus climate,major universities have assumed a united front against policy-changes on immigration. Shortly after Donald J. Trump’s successful presidential campaign, the University of California declared its commitment to the undocumented student community. The University of California affirmed, “we will not release immigration status or related information in confidential student records, without permission from a student, to federal agencies or other parties without a judicial warrant, a subpoena, a court order or otherwise required by law.” The UC stance is in conjunction and protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The humanity of immigration law pertaining to Dreamers are teetering as undocumented students continue to entrust the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with sensitive information without fear that the Executive Branch was using DACA as a way to find and remove undocumented immigrants when submitting renewals. President Trump stated, “[Dreamers] shouldn’t be very worried. I do have a big heart. We’re going to take care of everybody” during an ABC News interview in January.

Promptly after the rescission of DACA on September 5, 2017, Harvard University President Drew Faust issued a letter to the Trump administration emphasizing its cruelty as “recognizing neither justice nor mercy” and urged President Trump to preserve protections because like their peers, undocumented students have earned their seat at Harvard.

As litigation ensures and the fate of Dreamers out of the hands of the Executive Branch, how deep are universities committed to undocumented students? What extra protections can universities offer students that are still in compliance within federal and state law?